The 5 Browns captivate crowd in stellar show

THE 5 BROWNS, Kingsbury Hall, Saturday.

The people who attended the 5 Browns' piano concert Saturday night didn't know there were some technical glitches.

"We have been working out the bugs during this concert," said their mother, Lisa Brown, during a question-and-answer session. "You have beared with us."

Whatever those bugs were, they didn't matter, because the Alpine-raised 5 Browns — Desirae, 25, Deondra, 24, Gregory, 22, Melody, 20, and Ryan, 19 — played a dynamic show for their hometown crowd.

"There's nothing like coming home," Desirae told the audience, which was comprised of friends, family members and fans. "We're excited to be back."

The evening opened with all five performing Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." The 50 fingers flew across the keyboards of the five Steinway grand pianos, without the use of microphones and other visual enhancements.

Concentration, sibling mental telepathy and stoic professionalism, with a nice touch of humility, helped the Browns reach out to those audience members who may have never been to a classical music concert before.

The works that were chosen were a nice mix of popular compositions, such as Paul Dukas' "L'Apprenti Socier" ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"), Edward Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King" and a medley of selections from Bernstein's "West Side Story," and more challenging works such as Prokofiev's Sonata op. 28, no. 3, performed by Ryan, and Ravel's striking waltz, "La Valse" for two pianos, which was performed by Desirae and Deondra.

Guest award-winning violinist Bryan Hernandez-Luch joined his wife Desirae and sister-in-law Deondra in a moving rendition of Saint-Saens' "Aquarium," from "The Carnival of the Animals." The trio hushed the audience as it flawlessly performed the mystical work.

Hernandez-Luch also took on a solo work, Fritz Kreisler's Recitative and Scherzo, to the delight of the adoring audience.

Gregory also had his time in the white-hot solo spot. He teased the audience with Handel's joyful Suite in F minor before throwing off his jacket to pound the piano with his elbows and foot in the Jerry Lee Lewis-inspired Superstar Etude no. 1, by Aaron Jay Kernis. Gregory also found his serious side with the lamenting Elegie from Morceaux de Fantaisie, op. 3, by Rachmaninov.

As for Ryan, he also performed a Rachmaninov work — Moments Musicaux op. 16, no. 4. Once again, if there were glitches, no one but the family knew.

The 5 Browns — who have attended the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, with Ryan recently transferring to the Manhattan School of Music — didn't let their technical training overshadow their down-to-earth showmanship.

Likewise, they balanced their personal connection with the audience with grace, poise and professionalism.

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E-mail: scott@desnews.com